Storytelling Manager- NetZeroCities

NetZeroCities is a flagship initiative under the European Green Deal, directly supporting the European Commission's Mission for 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030. Climate-KIC leads a 34-member consortium tasked with driving systemic change across cities, industries, and governance structures. This is a complex, multi-sectoral, and multi-partner effort that requires bold communication and storytelling to inspire action and demonstrate transformation. As part of Climate KIC's storytelling ecosystem, this role contributes to amplifying Climate KIC's mission and learning agenda on place-based climate transformation., As Senior Storyteller, you will support a core part of the voice of this mission. Your role is to uncover and craft narratives that bring to life the journeys of Mission, Pilot, and Twin Cities as they navigate the "messy middle" of climate transformation. You will work with a robust team across the consortium to shape the editorial strategy for NetZeroCities, ensuring our stories resonate with diverse audiences, from policymakers and innovators to citizens and international partners. You will also contribute to Climate KIC's broader communications and brand narrative, drawing insights from NetZeroCities to illustrate systems transformation in action. This is not just about reporting progress; it's about creating narratives that spark imagination, build trust, and mobilise collective action. You will work closely with city teams, consortium partners, and communications colleagues to produce high-quality, multi-format content that demonstrates what climate-neutral futures look like in practice.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify and develop high-impact stories from across the consortium, cities, and programme activities.

• Co-Lead the editorial strategy and storytelling calendar in collaboration with the NetZeroCities and Climate KIC communications teams.

• Write and edit content for websites, newsletters, social media, and multimedia formats.

• Collaborate with city partners and stakeholders to surface authentic, diverse voices.

• Ensure alignment with strategic communications goals and brand tone.

• Proactively identify opportunities for flagship storytelling and cross-programme campaigns that advance both NetZeroCities and Climate KIC visibility.

• Translate complex programme insights into accessible narratives that position both NetZeroCities and Climate KIC as thought leaders in climate innovation.

Key Working Relationships

• NetZeroCities Head of Operations and Head of Communications

• NetZeroCities Programme Manager (CKIC)

• NetZeroCities Head of Communications (LGI)

• NetZeroCities Communication Team (A multiorganisational team primarly across CKIC, LGI, ICLEI and EuCs)

• Climate-KIC Cities Comms Team

Do you have experience in Writing skills?, Do you have a Master's degree?, You have proven journalistic or editorial experience, ideally focused on climate, urban transformation, or innovation, supported by exceptional writing and editing skills and a strong portfolio of published work. With a strategic mindset and an eye for narrative structure and audience engagement, you excel at crafting stories that resonate across cultures and sectors. Experience with multimedia storytelling formats such as video, podcasts, or photo essays is a valuable plus., * Degree in journalism, communications, media studies, environmental studies, or a related field.

• Postgraduate qualification or equivalent work experience in sustainability, climate communication, or urban studies (desirable).
• Equivalent professional experience in journalism or storytelling related to climate or urban transformation will also be considered., * Demonstrated professional experience in editorial or journalistic roles, ideally in the areas of climate action, sustainability, or innovation.
• Experience in multi-stakeholder, international, or consortium-based projects, preferably EU-funded (e.g. Horizon Europe).
• Proven ability to craft narratives across diverse audiences - policymakers, city officials, innovators, and citizens.
• Experience working within non-profit, public sector, or mission-driven organisations (desirable).
• Familiarity with European urban policy and the climate neutrality agenda is an advantage.

Skills

• Fluent in English proficiency in another European language (e.g. French, Spanish, German, or Italian) is desirable.
• Experience or willingness to work with collaborative IT applications (we use Office365 and Microsoft Teams, as well as Miro, Zoom, Mentimeter etc.)
• Skilled in writing, editing, and adapting content for digital platforms (web, newsletters, social media).
• Proven ability to translate complex technical or policy information into accessible, compelling narratives.
• Strong understanding of storytelling across multimedia formats - text, video, podcasts, and visual storytelling.
• Excellent stakeholder management and interpersonal communication skills.
• Strong project and time management abilities; comfortable managing multiple storylines and deadlines concurrently

Qualities, Personal Style, and Approach

• Comfortable working in a matrixed environment and fostering collaboration across teams.
• Creative and strategic thinker with a passion for storytelling as a tool for systemic change.
• Empathetic communicator who values authenticity and diverse voices.
• Curious, adaptable, and comfortable navigating ambiguity in complex, evolving projects.
• Self-motivated, proactive, and able to balance autonomy with teamwork in a distributed, international environment., Candidates must have the right to work in the location they're applying for (I.e. not require visa sponsorship) prior to applying for the position. Ideally, the successful candidate will be based close to a Climate KIC office, but we support fully remote or hybrid forms of working and offer a high degree of flexibility.

At Climate KIC, we are wholeheartedly committed to building a diverse and representative team and an inclusive workplace that values different life experiences and perspectives, and we encourage personal development, learning and growth. When recruiting, we look to achieve diversity in the candidate pool. We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups and are happy to consider reasonable adjustments that will foster success in potential colleagues from diverse backgrounds and life situations. And because our team has differing needs and personal circumstances, we offer a high degree of flexibility to accommodate working patterns. We're happy to discuss your situation during the interview and see how best we can support you. Don't let Imposter Syndrome stop you from applying! Climate KIC (Knowledge and Innovation Community) is Europe's foremost climate innovation initiative. We understand that global temperature rise is exceeding 1.5C and this demands unprecedented change. It requires new social dynamics, ways of doing business, capital flows, policymaking, economic models, and new ways of living. That is why our mission is to leverage the power of systems innovation to transform whole places, industries and value chains by 2030, working across sectors to develop and scale ambitious programmes. Climate KIC's strategy 2024-2030, Transformation, with Urgency, is available here. Climate KIC operates as a not-for-profit foundation working through public-private partnership, wielding both public and private funding. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Amsterdam, we orchestrate a community of more than 150 organisations including large corporations and SMEs, municipal and regional governments, universities and research institutes, as well as non-governmental organisations and civil society actors. Climate KIC leads the implementation of the European Union's Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities and the launch pilot of the Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, both with the objective of catalysing rapid and deep transformation on a large scale, creating the precedent and economic transition conditions for demonstration, learning, capacity building, fast followership and investment. Achieving the EU Cities Mission will mean avoided scope 1 and 2 emissions alone of an estimated 0.7GT CO2e between now and 2040. Climate KIC has a Remote-First approach, where colleagues work remotely from home based in one of the countries where we have a branch or employing entity (and can work out of local offices or co-working seats, where they exist). We meet at our local offices to exchange and connect and use online collaboration tools to work with each other and with our community. On occasion, we meet in person as teams, and once per year as an organisation. As a mission-driven organisation dedicated to climate transformation, we consider the climate impact of our own actions, for example travel, catering, or IT equipment.